Edsturbia
by Combatmaster350
Summary: Turning wayward after his father's death, Eddy McCone ends up under house arrest. At first having fun, he soon finds himself pulled into a terrifying situation. Eddy believes his mom's new man is a serial killer, but can't prove anything or go anywhere. He aims to unlock the truth with help from Ed, Edd, Nazz, and Robin, but can they handle the grisly part of their investigation?
1. One Year Later

**Author's note: **What's up?! CombatMaster350 (though you can call me "CM") here! This is my first fanfic ever so, only constructive criticism and positive reviews allowed. No flames please! Ok, as it says on my profile, I am a childhood movie and Ed, Edd n Eddy fan! This story parodies the movie "Disturbia" in both title and partial plotline. The other part of the plotline is inspired by the movie "The Bone Collector" with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. And because Eddy is my favorite character, I decided to make him the main protagonist of my first fic! But enough jibber-jabber! Let's get this show on the road!

_**Disclaimer: As much as I'd like to, I do not own Ed, Edd n Eddy. Only the OCs that are crucial to the plot.**_

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

**ONE YEAR LATER**

It is a warm, windy spring morning in the quaint town of Peach Creek. Birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the sky is almost completely uninhabited by clouds. At a small pond, Edgar S. McCone and his father Skipper are fishing. Eddy has changed some since the incident with his older brother just several months ago. Once a megalomaniac, he had a little more than a 42 average in all his classes simply because he didn't care and would only cause disruptions. Now, with proper tutoring from Edd and the motivation of his newfound friends, he has a little more than a 79 average in each of his classes despite still hating school. He still wears his yellow shirt, blue jeans, and red sneakers and keeps his hair in threes. But now, he is noticeably thinner and slightly taller. He resembles his father strongly, even though he wears a brown toupe' and is much larger and more muscular than he is.

"_I think I got him! Her! Whatever_!" Eddy whispers to Skipper. "_Oh, I can smell the money now_!"

"_Hey, I thought this was for us_?" Skipper whispers slightly offended.

"_What're you complaining about? We got like sixteen for us, already! And I need some cashola in my bankola_!" Eddy chuckles.

Indeed. He abandoned his greedy and selfish ways now that he has found himself a sense of belonging with the other cul-de-sac kids. But according to Skipper, money is always smart and convenient to have in your possession. So now, he does honest money-making ventures simply for extra pocket profit. This time, to catch fish, roast them, and sell them to the locals this fine spring weekend in addition to just having fun with his father.

"_I got it! I got it! I got it-_oh!" Eddy's fish escape his grasp, provoking him to kick the water out of frustration.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Skipper scolds, obviously the one who passed the trait to young Eddy. "It's all right! Sometimes they get away! Don't worry about it! Here, have some soda!" Skipper passes Eddy a bottle of green soda to calm his nerves, smiling at the fact that he succeeded.

"You know, I really appreciate you ditching Edwin and Eddward to hang with your old man. I'm especially glad that you pulled your grades out of the crap-pile so that you could!" Skipper smiles. Due to Eddy's bad character, they couldn't bond all that much. He is more than relieved at the fact that those days are over.

"Oh, it's cool. Monobrow and Sockhead kinda had their own plans, too. And, I appreciate you finally apologizing to me for hiring Nazz as my babysitter even though we're the same age and she's into me!" Eddy glares at his father with a grin.

"Look at it this way! You had a night alone with her! And she said that there was a…_snicker_…naked situation with a bathtub?"

"I'm not gonna tell you if we made out!" Eddy splashes water on Skipper.

"Spoilsport! Let's just fish!" Skipper and Eddy spend another two hours fishing before heading home in the former's 70s charger.

"Stop lying!" Eddy laughs.

"I'm serious! It was the roughest day in the history of rough days!" Skipper explains while laughing.

"You sell cars and small talk! You wouldn't know a rough day if you picked up a cursed phone and kept using it!" Eddy shakes his head and pops open a liter of **Vitamin MCN4**.

"Hey ease off on that stuff, will ya? It'll help your body, all right, but it's like a drug. Too much and it'll murder ya!" Skipper warns.

Skipper answers his cell phone, his wife Alyssa being on the other end, "Hey, beautiful! Yeah, we got a ton of fish! Hope you're ready to cut, gut, and cook! And don't forget to show Eddy how! He's gotta sell his! Yeah, he got a lot! What'd you thought I meant when I said "we"?"

Eddy lays his seat back as his parents converse and notices that the sky is no longer blue and beautiful, but now darkened due to a large gray cloud complete with a weak thunderclap. Feeling slightly nervous, he takes the phone to speak to Alyssa, "As if, Mom! Only a lame retard would think they can pass off a store-bought fish as the result of pure catching talent! And speakin' of retards…" Eddy and Skipper glare at a black minivan that honks its horn at them as it speeds by.

"Can you believe this gu-hunh?" Skipper suddenly floors his vehicle to a stop when he notices the minivan swerve and stop just several feet in front of him, the hood facing him directly. The minivan's tires are revving repeatedly and the minivan itself is perfectly aligned with the McCones' charger. It's as if the driver wanted to...charge at them. But why?

Eddy looks into his rearview mirror and noticed a silver SUV drive and stop right behind them, almost as if that driver wanted to…trap them. As Eddy wonders why in confusion, unbeknownst to him, a stronger thunderclap than before fills the darkening sky. Father and son look at each other worried.

ERRGH! Just then, the minivan speeds towards the two, intent on ramming them!

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Thinking quickly, Skipper tries to turn the car around, but the SUV behind them reacts first, speeds at them, and RAMS into the back of the vehicle, severely denting its back and causing it to spin out of control! The charger's front is then HIT by the minivan and forced against the highway fence! Skipper put his arm on Eddy's chest, "EDDY, DON'T MOVE! DON'T MOVE, SON!" Don't move indeed. The charger's impact on the fence was so great that it caused the fence to break partially and become just stable enough to keep the McCones from falling onto the middle of the highway below!

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Eddy, now sweating more than usual, ends up veering his head towards the minivan, which has now swerved to face them head on again! Only this time, it looks as if the driver…"THIS PSYCHO'S GONNA FREAKIN' KNOCK US OFF THE ROAD, DAD!"

"HANG ON!" Skipper keeps his hand on Eddy's chest as the minivan rams into the charger, knocking them off the road and triggering screams of fear! The charger falls roof-first onto the street at the bottom, forcing the airbags to deploy. The two survived the fall, but are rendered bloodied and bruised. "You all right?"

"Yeah! Lemme just-" Eddy struggles to move his legs. When he could, he screams in extreme pain. Sticking his head out of the broken window, he tries to push himself out so that he could go around the car to get his father.

"Easy!" Skipper tells his younger child.

It begins to rain, making the day all the more perfect. Just when Eddy manages to get out of the car, he sees and hears the things that would change his life…forever.

"No!" To his horror, Eddy sees that the same minivan from up top managed to speed all the way down and seems to not be through with the two!

"EDDY!" The boy hears Skipper's yells before he witnesses the minivan ram into his father's side of the car and continue to drive away like nothing happened. The SUV follows the minivan several seconds later, passing right by Eddy. Oddly, it seems they were only after Skipper.

"OH MY GOD! DAD! DAD!" Eddy limps over to his father's side of the car and bends down to try and get him. But unfortunately…it is too late. The man who raised him. The man who disciplined him. The man who's been there for him since his birth. He is dead. Eddy begins to sob just as an even stronger thunderclap than before fills the sky. Immediately following is the faint sound of someone calling him.

"_Eddy! Eddy! Eddy!" _He still couldn't hear it over his crying and the thunderclap. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning flashed and the voice became six times louder than before,

"_EDDY_!"

"HUH!" Eddy awakens to find that it is his friend, Edd Keyes, that has been calling his name and that he was reliving the day he lost his father through a nightmare while in Speech Class. It has been one year since then, and he has once again changed both inside and out. He is as tall and slender as Edd and most other young teenagers, courtesy of the **Vitamin MCN4** he has been taking. His three hairs are now thicker and are pointed more towards the front. But his personality is probably what has shifted the most. He retained the friendships around him all right, but after trying so long to get the cops to listen to his correct claims of his father being murdered, he has reverted back into a more wayward and violent youngster. Of course, he only shows it through certain impulses.

"I highly doubt that you'll gain knowledge through slumber, Eddy." Edd presses his finger down on a page in Eddy's Forensic Science book.

"I was dreamin' about…" Eddy started…

"I know, old friend. Even with everyone's amalgamated support from his funeral and onwards, you never completely recovered from the psychological hardship that stemmed from that horrific day." Edd politely interrupts. "But your father would be the first to tell you not to allow anything pertaining to him or others, no matter how severe, to impede your future. Now, you came to me for assistance in increasing your grade in Forensics Class back to a B so that you could evade taking the final exam. I can't prove to be useful to you unless you are useful to me as well."

"It's just…I mean the class is about lookin' at dead bodies. That ain't exactly the place to be for a guy like me. Even if I am good at it." Eddy turns the page.

"At least you _sound_ like yourself." Edd smiles sadly.

"Sorry I'm late, kids! But, not that half of you will ever understand because you're fated to be alone, I had a rough argument with the lady of the house! Emphasis on rough!" The substitute Hispanic-American teacher walks into the classroom, his suit torn and briefcase dirty. "Now, let's get started. But first, Mr. McCone! Put the Forensics book away! This is Speech Class!"

"No, this is my study hall class for the 700th time, Del Toro." Eddy coldly replies, annoyed with the teacher's constant disregard for what he says every time he substitutes the class.

"You never know when you'll actually get this class later, kid. Put…the book…up!" Mr. Del Toro sternly commands Eddy, who glares at him with rage. Enough to make him want to give into his impulse of striking him.

Noticing this, Edd frantically changes the subject, "Uh, Mr. Del Toro? If you're wondering what homework assignment Mr. Willis presented us with the previous day, it is entitled "Changing the Community" and of course, I have volunteered to present first!"

"I _was_ wondering, actually! Go ahead, sir! And you're next Mr. McCone! And you better pull something out of your ass if you didn't do it, Mr. Study Hall!" Mr. Del Toro sits down, earning a more hate-filled version of Eddy's glare. "Go ahead, Mr. Keyes!"

Edd clears his throat as he stands behind the podium to recite the assignment he memorized, "I ask you, what has the greatest negative impact on our town? Cutting down trees? Engaging in lawlessness? Perhaps! But neither can truly compete with the lack of an education. More than 1 million young people drop out of school a year with the intention to never return. Though the reasons range from pregnancy or the decision to sell outlawed product, the chief of these reasons is due to the lack of interest. Ladies and gentlemen, if you feel yourselves on the brink of dropping out because of this, then bequeath me with the chance to restore your interests!" Edd shows everyone a large poster with various pictures of young teenagers working together to construct technology of all shapes and sizes.

"Oh, wow!" Mr. Del Toro exclaims at the pictures in amazement. The students, excluding Eddy, follow suit.

"The Adolescent Inventors Club! An after-school program strictly for students between the ages of 13 and 15!" Edd continues, "By focusing your fading concern for school on this program, you will quite possibly unlock potential you never would have believed that you possessed before and have a wonderful time doing so. You may possibly even find a career during your time here. All the program asks in return is for you to conserve a decent portion of your educational interest and while I am aware of how difficult it will be for you, I guarantee that each and every one of you will find enough exhilaration in the AIC to find it all worth it! I am Eddward M. Keyes and I wish to change the community through reinvigorating interest in education. Thank you!"

With the exception of Eddy, whom has witnessed Edd's program before, the entire class applauded Edd's presentation; with some even stating that they'll check the program out.

"Excellent work, Mr. Keyes! And I'm only saying that because I don't know a fifth of the fancy words you used!" Mr. Del Toro turns his attention to Eddy, who has been studying his Forensics book throughout Edd's entire presentation. "Book away, Mr. McCone! You're up!"

Eddy simply ignored the substitute and continued studying. Not just because he is being a jerk despite what Eddy has said to him, but also because he is trying to keep calm so as not to lose his temper. Mr. Del Toro exasperatedly walks over to Eddy and snatches his book away. Tossing it to the floor, he nearly causes Eddy's anger volcano to erupt.

"I'm guessing there was nothing useful in your ass to pull." Mr. Del Toro goes on to subtly taunt Eddy, "Look I know about your Dad. Killed in a car crash last year. You feel guilty that it wasn't you. And now you're trying to deal with the pain by burying yourself in your work and life. Well…cry about it somewhere else. That's life. You're supposed to outlive your Dad, anyway."

That's it. The volcano erupts. Eddy viciously punches Mr. Del Toro to the floor and begins striking him repeatedly in the lip for his insensitivity and mistreatment towards him.

"EDDY, STOP!" Edd attempts to intervene, almost getting hit himself, while the class backs into a corner and one student calls the office.

* * *

Some days later, in the morning, Eddy, his mother Alyssa (who has lost weight since her "appearance" in **Smile for the Ed**), Mr. Del Toro (now sporting a huge bruise on his eye and a busted lip), and his friends Edd and Ed Schreck are in court, as Del Toro has pressed assault charges against him.

"All right, Mr. McCone. You will be turning 15 in a matter of months, which means you would only pay the minimum of a few months in juvie for the assault charges you pled guilty to. But with all these priors, you're up to four years." The judge tells Eddy, who looks back on all the bad he's done to sate the pain of losing his father. Vandalizing. Disturbing the peace. And assaulting others, of course. The judge continues, "Losing a parent isn't easy. And having friends isn't bad. That's why I'm sentencing you to three months of house arrest and because of Mr. Schreck and Mr. Keyes' testimonies against Adam Del Toro, he is no longer allowed to teach at Peach Creek Junior High or any other school you attend until you are 21. Mr. McCone, I just cut you a break. Don't test me." A few minutes after court is adjourned, Eddy has a quick conversation with the other Eds.

"Thanks for testifying against that tool, guys." Eddy nods his head in gratitude.

"You're very welcome, Eddy." Edd nods back. He felt no remorse for his actions despite his respect for Mr. Del Toro. Regardless of who they are, _no one_ messes with his friends.

"And it is I who should thank you for giving me the chance to get rid of that tool, my trouble-making chum!" Ed bear-hugs Eddy in gratitude, as he has had his own issues with Mr. Del Toro in the past that have resulted in his landing in trouble.

To breathe, Eddy pushes Ed off of him, "Jeez, Lumpy! You don't know your own strength, yet? And how'd you get your Mom to let you keep on being friends with me after all this?"

"She sym-pora-thies with you, Eddy! She lost her dad to an accident before she was as old as Sarah!" Ed continues to smile, as he wants to keep Eddy's spirits up.

"I believe you mean "sympathize", Ed. But it's pleasant to know that both of our mothers still support our collective friendship and I am terribly sorry to hear about your grandfather." Edd touches his friends' shoulders.

"Ahem!" Alyssa, standing next to a Hispanic male and Black female officer, sternly gets Eddy's attention down the hall.

"Gotta split." Eddy walks over to the three adults.

"Ed will find out what hours we can visit you!" Ed yells down the hall, causing spectators to look at him.

"It's house arrest, Ed. We will be capable of visiting him whenever we desire. He just won't be able to do the same." Edd corrects.

"If I have mom bake him a gravy cake, he'll come out of his house, Double D!" Ed replies, causing Edd to pull his hat over his eyes frustrated.

* * *

Later that day in the McCone house, Detective Moon, the black female officer, places and activates Eddy's ankle monitor.

"Okay, you are all set to go nowhere!" Detective Moon casually explains, "All right, here are the rules in a nutshell. You're not allowed 100 feet beyond this house and once you're beyond, the monitor's gonna turn red, travel through the phone lines, and reach the station in town. It's tamper, electric, and waterproof, so don't even think about sticking your foot in the toilet and hopping across the lawn. It won't work and you'll look pretty stupid."

"What if he gets to red and-"

"He's got 10 seconds to get his three-haired butt back to green or else." Detective Moon interrupts Alyssa.

"What? Five-o's gonna take me alive?" Eddy folds his arms sarcastically.

_"Dead_ or alive." Detective Moon turns to Alyssa, "All right, you all set to pay the incarceration fee, Mrs. McCone?"

"Incarce-What?" Alyssa looks at Eddy surprised.

Detective Moon explains, "12 bucks a day. I accept all major credit cards, but personally, I prefer your son's style. What was it?"

"Cash or cash!" Eddy and Detective Moon smirk, but Alyssa is internally and facially angered with Eddy for making light of this. Obviously though, he doesn't care.

Detective Moon and Alyssa walk over to the table to discuss payment while Eddy turns to the Hispanic officer and notices his nametag in shock, "Officer…Del Toro?"

"Your substitute teacher…he's my brother." The officer sneers sadistically, triggering an uneasy facial response from Eddy, who knows he'll try something to get even.

Detective Moon then tells Eddy, "Oh and by the way, my husband and I are ditching the uniforms for two weeks in the Bahamas and Robin is watching the house until then. If he comes by and says he staying out past midnight, call me up so I can bust his ears as an appetizer to what's gonna happen. I mean it! Call me!"

Eddy nods with a convincing smile, but has no intention of doing so. Later on, Eddy is reading **Bikini Babes** magazines on his bed until, walking through his sliding back-door, a kid his age, height, and build with combed black hair, skin as dark as Detective Moon's, and a forest green tongue. He wears a white T-shirt with an unbuttoned black T-shirt over it, a silver lion-headed necklace, gray jeans, and black/white sneakers. Given his powerful resemblance to Detective Moon, it is obvious that he is her son. Robin.

"Boy Wonder!" Eddy hops off of his bed.

"You know better than that!" Robin points at him threateningly.

"Why don't you just suck up a nickname like the rest of us?" Eddy takes out his gray wristbands.

"Oh, you mean like you and that "no-neck chump" thing?" Robin snickers, being the one who wrote that insult almost two years back.

"The deal was you drop that and I don't have Ed stuff you in the turkey chair and _drop_ you in the gravy tub." Eddy cracks his knuckles.

"Hey, I didn't know you'd go so far off the chain that you'd end up staining the names Carl, Hugo, and Jeanette!" Robin takes off his black shirt.

_"Suzette,_ idiot!" Eddy corrects.

"Let's just spar!" Robin and Eddy step into the backyard and ready themselves in similar fighting positions.

* * *

**Ok, so, this chapter was more drama/comedy/angst than mystery/suspense/thriller, but just you wait! Just you wait! And I hope you paid close attention to every little detail of this chapter, because each of these have ties to important parts of the story's future and I'd hate to ruin the good parts for you! Also, I anticipated that some of you might not have seen "Disturbia" (with Shia Labeouf, David Morse, and Sarah Roemer) or "The Bone Collector", which is why I made a few changes to have it fit into the Ed Edd n Eddy world and have it be something fellow fans would like. Stay tuned for updates! **


	2. Adjustment

**Author's note: **All right, so I took a little longer than expected to submit this chapter due to life, work, and the desire to find a stepping stone to my career as a filmmaker (like trying to start off as an actor to get both money and an idea of the business firsthand), but I'm here now aren't I?! Now here, even though this chapter mostly concerns Eddy getting used to the restrictions of house arrest (hence the chapter title), the chilling part of the story is existent in here. You'll see for yourselves in a bit. Also, I forgot to mention that I aged up the characters slightly to allow them to say and do things they wouldn't previously. In addition, the characters retain their trademark clothing. Enjoy the show!

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**CHAPTER 2**

**ADJUSTMENT**

Eddy attempts to knock Robin to the ground with quick and powerful short-range attacks, but the latter blocks and defends against each of them. Although, Robin couldn't really touch Eddy with his own quick and potent attacks, as he has blocked and defended against each of them. Whether it is a punch, palm-strike, or forearm strike, neither could land a single blow on the other until...

"Whyah!" Eddy swiftly spins around once and strikes Robin across the left cheek, but Robin, to Eddy's surprise, manages to immediately recover and land a roundhouse kick to his left cheek, knocking him on the ground and ending the sparring match.

"Getting faster. Almost couldn't keep up. _Almost_!" Robin helps Eddy up.

"Yeah, well, no one can stand up to me forever, Snipes." Eddy brushes himself off. "Still, thanks again for the private lessons."

"Again, it's not even the least I can do." Robin smiles appreciatively. Like the Eds, he started out as an outcast. It's not easy being smart as well as the son of the town Sheriff and a police detective. His getting ridiculed for their actions has caused him to vandalize property, insult others, or both. To take his mind off of these troubles, ever since he was 8, he has gone to his uncle's place and trained with him in kickboxing and southern dragon-style kung fu, achieving confidence and solace. Almost two years ago, Robin befriends the Eds after Eddy, who after seeing him argue with his parents while being carried home by the other kids from Mondo-a-GoGo, realizes that he has familial and social issues like he did. He invites him to Kevin's jawbreaker party and convinces the other kids to accept him for this. And in turn, he would be the one to convince everyone to re-accept Jonny after his failed "Gourd" attempt. Some days before this though, Robin used his fighting skills to save the Eds from the Kankers and has taught Eddy combat at his request ever since.

"PARIAH FIRE!" Ed yells, suddenly showing up behind the two.

"Of all the…!" Eddy digs in his ears, growling at Ed's yelling in them.

"Look what I got!" Ed excitedly shows them a video game box with a red/black demonic dragon on it and the words "PARIAH FIRE" above it.

"Don't screw with my emotions, big guy!" Robin excitedly snatches the box. "Is this legit? Is this the non-bootleg version of the latest "PARIAH FIRE" game? The one that's supposed have the Blade of Shadows and the Shield of Blood that grants the wielder invulnerability for three levels so long as you sacrifice half your life-force? How'd you get this when they just went up 20 bucks?"

"Boots go on your feet, not your legs, Robin!" Ed snatches the box back. "And I got it from a clerk in the Candy Store after I guessed how many chunky puff balls were in a jar! 806!"

"How the heck did you find that out? You can barely count past 26!" Eddy asks in disbelief.

"You estimated based on the dimensional sizes of both the jar and the chunky puffs, didn't you?" Robin assumes, once again impressing both Eds with his intellect.

"Naw, I used cereal stapistics!" Ed replies proud.

_"Statistics,_ idiot!" Eddy corrects, rolling his eyes.

"Oh! Oh! I'm getting a bellyache from not playing! Let's set it up in Eddy's media room!" Ed busts through Eddy's sliding door with Robin and an infuriated Eddy chasing after him.

They enter the McCone media room, formerly known as Eddy's brother's room, which now has an enormous TV complete with DVD and blu-ray disk players for movies and a video game console and three controllers for, well, video games. Ed pops in the game and the boys play for hours until suddenly…

"Oh, man! You gotta be kiddin' me! Why'd it cut off?!" Eddy stares at the now-blank screen in outrage.

"Oh, I never even got to boost my strength to pinnacle level!" Robin complains.

"Black screen and no slaying evil bad for Ed!" Ed whines, running up to the television with the intent to shake it up.

"Ed I swear, if you break that TV, I'm gonna tear off your eyebrow and strangle you with it!" Eddy menaces.

"Looks like your Mom's startin' to cancel stuff to keep your fee cheap." Robin explains. "Guess the closest thing we can get to the game now is the movie."

"And Ed never leaves home without it!" Ed pulls the "PARIAH FIRE" blu-ray disk out of his jacket, shaking off the lint and potato chip crumbs that are on it.

"Throw it in. I'll grab some snacks." Eddy walks down into the kitchen and starts grabbing snack cakes, cookies, chips, and a twelve pack of soda. Making his way back up, he looks down the direction opposing the media room. Something that creates a shift in his mood. "Hey, Rob!"

"What's up?" Robin rushes out of the room behind him (Eddy).

"Take these, will ya?" Eddy hands him the snacks. "I gotta piss."

But what Eddy really does while Robin goes back into the media room is enter his father's (now his mother's) old office across his parents' bedroom. He develops a facial expression of sadness when he finds a few pictures of just his father and himself under a white cover on a small bookshelf. Their riding a rollercoaster together. Their devouring a huge pepperoni pizza and making a mess together. And even one that depicts them wrestling in the backyard. He sustains his facial expression when he sees the desk pictures that depict the whole family (excluding Eddy's brother of course) together. A picture of them posing together at a Christmas party. A picture of them posing with a professional boxer-friend of Alyssa's. And even a picture of them posing together at a barbeque with Ed being attacked by bees in the background. Eddy smiles sadly at these few but exciting memories. A smile that lasted for merely a few seconds, as Eddy spots a recent picture of Alyssa posing at a business party with her new boyfriend Adrian Potter, whose hands are around her waist. He is a six 'six man in his early-to-mid forties with graying brown hair and is wearing a masculine suit version of Alyssa's navy blue jacket, white dress shirt, and navy blue skirt and shoes. Angry at the fact that his mother started dating again just nine months after Skipper's death, he lays the face of the picture down on the desk.

* * *

In the gymnasium of Peach Creek Junior High, as he does every day, Edd is successfully running the AIC, overseeing his students' wrapping up their projects for later use by walking around and giving compliments. He is then called to the presence of his most recent students, most of whom being from his speech class.

"Ready?" They ask Edd, who excitedly smiles as they unveil, "SURPRISE!"

To his astonishment, he sees that the group of seven has constructed an array of what appears to be espionage and investigative equipment. They have listening devices the size of cell phone batteries. A couple of pistols that emit grappling wires with hooks. A set of six long-range walky-talkies. A frequency-jamming device in the shape of a green/black pistol. A hand-held square device that is labeled "Sample Analyzer". And finally, an X-ray telescope.

"Extraordinary engineering, everyone!" Edd applauds. "To think at first, you had thoughts of hesitation and reluctance for coming here during the beginning months of summer vacation!"

"We love this program, Double D!" One girl replies. "And we're psyched about the fact that you extended it to the first two weeks of summer!"

"You're very welcome, but I was actually speaking of your willingness to return to this representation of education when you have already grown to despise it for the entirety of the year!" Edd snickers.

"Don't remind us!" Another girl rolls her eyes.

Edd picks up a grapple gun and the freq-jam pistol before turning to a boy, "Well, you certainly have a…_ahem_…special interest in items that are inspired by the shape of firearms."

"Hey, what can I say? When you're not getting shot at, guns are pretty awesome!" The boy folds his arms.

"I advise you all to find a secure location to place your concoctions, as I intend for you to present them for the following school year." Edd suggests. "And on that note, given that the majority of us will be entering high school once the summer ends, we will transfer our workstation to a deserted edifice. Unscheduled for demolition, of course!"

"Thanks for the heads up, but we actually made these for you!" Another boy explains. "You've got so much passion for tech and patience for us slackers and you don't even ask for anything back! So, we're giving you our stuff to pay you back. Like it or not!"

"To say the very least, I'm flattered but-" Edd is interrupted when the students, having wrapped all of their technology in plastic and placed them within a large box, drop said box into his arms. He has picked up a little bit of strength recently, but is still considerably weaker than most other boys (and even some girls) and therefore struggles with carrying the contents in his arms.

"He said "like it or not!" The first girl reiterates.

"Need help with that, dude?" Another boy asks, noticing Edd stumbling around.

"Much obliged, but I believe it is past time for me to develop physical potential in addition to mental!" Edd almost trips as he exits the door. "And besides, father should be directly…oh, dear! Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Not good!" Edd falls through the gym doors and lands face-first into his box of tech, though both remain uninjured.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Rolf sees that the cannot-lift-half-his-own-weight Ed boy is in need of service, no?" In his Urban Rangers uniform, Rolf Yectorven, having "parked" Victor and an identical goat towing a large chariot, for the past twenty minutes on a curb quickly climbs off to assist Edd. He grabs the box with one hand, stuffs it in a wool duffel bag, and helps Edd on.

"Thank you, Rolf." Edd brushes himself off. "I don't suppose I can assume that you've seen my father approach this area?"

"Rolf was among many parental elders since his arrival yet, he has not laid eyes upon your own! But Rolf sees no burden in escorting you to your dwelling in addition to his Rangers!" Rolf offers.

"How kind of you." Edd accepts.

"How is the he-who-is-confined-within-his-own-domicile Ed boy?" Rolf asks curious.

"Hopefully as we speak, he has found some level of lasting entertainment in the forensic magazines I've provided for him." Edd shrugs.

* * *

Quite the contrary, Eddy is trying to trying to listen to his downloaded music on his recently acquired computer, but finds himself unable to access the internet or the music-box files on his profile. Ed and Robin have gone home due to the former having chores and the latter being stuck with the task of house-sitting, adding to his frustration. Turning off the computer, he hops onto his bed and begins texting.

"Really? Laying in bed?" Alyssa walks into the room and begins picking up his scattered clothes and is wearing her same outfit from the photograph, but with a nametag. Previously a mere housewife, she has taken a job as a banker many months ago to support Eddy and herself.

"Yeah, what else is there to do when wannabe-mom-of-the-week cuts away video games and internet?" Eddy coldly replies.

"Don't forget friends. You think those two knuckleheads care enough about responsibility to remember that they have some at home?" Alyssa throws the clothes in the chair. "Look Eddy, it's not your fault that you're a felon, but you've still got responsibility too. Adrian's coming by tonight, so I want you to clean up the kitchen and the living room…now."

"Can't be now. I've got other work to do!" Eddy drops his phone and turns on the TV to watch a show about millionaires, blatantly ignoring his mother due to her telling him to do something because of Adrian. He then replies to Alyssa's stern facial expression, "What? I'm studying methods of keeping eight-figures in my pockets while still doin' what I want."

Agitated, Alyssa unplugs his TV, leading him to rudely groan, "Yer a bigger drama queen than Double D! What's stoppin' me from pluggin' that back in?"

"Drama queen?" Alyssa takes out a pair of scissors threateningly.

"No! Are you psycho? Why do you even have sciss-HEY!" Eddy is shocked to see Alyssa cut his TV cord, leaving him without television in his own room too!

"Now, who's the drama queen?" Alyssa repeats, "Clean up the kitchen and the living room!"

Incensed, Eddy spends the day half-doing what his mother demanded of him. He carelessly stuffs the dishes in the dishwasher before he starts it and uses a bucket of mop-water to splash and squeegee a small portion of the kitchen floor. He vacuums the living room, but he neither dusts nor wipes anything. He later combs his hair in boredom in his own room until Alyssa shows up in his room with her hands on Adrian's arm, "We'll be back around 11, but no guarantees. If you invite your friends over, I want them out by 9:00. But no girls. It might be summer, but you're spending yours inside and electricity isn't cheap. Even if you dance with the lights-"

"Mom!" Eddy interrupts annoyed.

"The kid already looks like he's suffocating, Lyss. Let's go have dinner and let him breathe, shall we?" Adrian suggests, walking out Eddy's room with Alyssa.

A couple of hours later, around sunset, Eddy has fallen asleep at his desk while reading one of the many forensic science magazines Edd has given him, having already reached boredom with his other magazines. He awakens when he hears a large object fall and the voices of other kids outside. Looking out his living room window, he sees two of his friends, Kevin West and Anastasia "Nazz" Van Bartonschmeer, whose hair is now a strawberry blonde rather than a sandy blonde color, pull down a large decorative sign reading "CUL-DE-SAC TOURS" on the right side of Rolf's tractor. He also hears their conversation,

"Sweet pull! Me and Rolf will break it down. You go give Eddy his cut." Kevin starts to follow Rolf into his (Kevin's) house.

"I, like, need a drink first." Nazz enters Kevin's house just before him.

Eddy's attention shifts to the front door after the doorbell rings. Opening the door, he shouts "AGH!" upon seeing a flaming brown paper bag on his porch and begins stomping it out. He groans when he realizes, "Dog shit? Man, that's old."

"Ankle monitor and a filthy mouth! Now, he really IS a man!" Lee and her sisters smile while standing in front of the McCone lawn, obviously the "geniuses" behind the prank.

"Bimbos!" Eddy clinches his teeth, stepping down and towards the Kankers with the intent to hurt them. "Think you're cute still, huh?!"

"Aww, gonna cry like you did when your sub roasted on your daddy?" May snorts tauntingly.

"No, but _you_ will be when I go Bruce Lee on your asses!" Eddy dashes after the Kankers when they run down the street, not caring that they're female due to his already haunting history with them.

"Hey, stupid!" Lee spits at May. "I love a man who rebels and all, but you said he couldn't leave his house!"

"He can't!" May replies back confused.

"Yeah!" Marie agrees.

Overhearing them and realizing a little too late that they are right, Eddy looks down at his ankle monitor and sees it bleeping red!

"Whoah! Go back to green! Go green! Green means stop!" Eddy sprints back to his house, hoping to get back into the "green zone" before it's too late! Kevin and Rolf, stepping outside with jawbreakers in their mouths, notice Eddy lunge onto his lawn and hop over in his direction to see what's up. Eddy cheers loudly in relief when the monitor goes back to green.

"Girl problems, again?" Kevin taunts.

"Don't start!" Eddy warns. "You know they don't qualify as chicks!"

"True." Kevin nods in agreement. "They don't even shave like them."

"Poppycock! A true fowl considers its feathery flesh a gift of beauty, hideously-engorged-jaw Kevin boy!" Rolf replies to Kevin's comments.

"Yo, Rolf?" Kevin explains, "You do know when we say "chicks" we mean-"

Kevin is interrupted when a couple of police cars arrive in front of Eddy's lawn, obviously due to the fact that he didn't make it back to his house before the first ten seconds were up!

"Oh, jeez! Hey! Hey! It wasn't my fault! It was the freakin' Kankers! They put a bag of shit on my porch!" Eddy tries to reason with the cops, but groans in disbelief when he sees that one of the cops is the grinning Officer Del Toro, "You gotta be kiddin' me! Before you start your payback scheme, at least hear me out!"

"Get down on the ground!" Del Toro demands with a sadistic smile.

"There's a bag of sh-!" Eddy tries to reason with him again.

"Get down on the ground!" Del Toro commands yet again before Eddy ultimately obeys. He cackles as he handcuffs the boy, who mutters to himself in embarrassment.

Kevin and Rolf are disgusted and horrified with Del Toro's cruelty, well-aware of the fact that he is only doing this on behalf of his brother. Nazz then walks out to see what the hubbub is all about and watches in concern as Eddy is dragged back into his house. Although, not before he glances back at her with unnoticeable affection.

Half an hour later, Eddy is talking to Robin on his cell, needing his expertise in the field of law to understand what just happened.

"_Calm down, bro! If they got to you that quick, that means they were in the cul-de-sac already! Patrolling, not stalkin'!" _Robin replies.

"Yeah, but the cop that came up here is the substitute's brother!" Eddy explains. "That's gotta be some kinda violation or somethin'! Lemme tell ya, I thought _my_ brother was a turd!"

"_As long as he didn't drag you OUT of your place, he didn't violate nothin'!" _Robin continues. _"When you bail on the property the first time, you won't get busted because it's somethin' that always happens. But if I were you, I wouldn't let it happen again! Or else your butt's back in the courtroom and if you're lucky, a private cell in Juvie! Got it?"_

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Whatever!" Eddy hangs up the phone frustrated, but not with Robin. He pounds his fists together when he hears a knock at his door, prepared for the Kankers' next attempt to prank him. But when he opens the door,

"Hey, dude! Brought you your cut. 35 bucks." Nazz cheerfully smiles as she hands him a wad of money in a paperclip from the Cul-de-sac Tours venture, obviously something he set up through his text message earlier. "And are you ok after what happened today?"

"I'll live...to get even another day." Eddy smiles back at her. "Looks like the Cul-de-sac Tours venture raked in more moolah than we both thought! You took 'em everywhere?"

Nazz takes a deep breath to reply, "You mean, going from the cul-de-sac, the old abandoned house, the construction site, the junkyard, the playground, the creek, the swimming hole, the lane, and stopping with the gross trailer park and sewers? Totally! Would've been more fun if you were there."

"Yeah, well, as long as you've got the dog collar for ankles like I do, gotta see the line and not cross it!" Eddy sighs.

"Looks like you took that literally!" Nazz points to Eddy's front lawn, where a thick brand of yarn could be seen wrapped around said lawn, something he set up to keep himself from getting in the red again. To make double sure, he put his old lava lamp at exactly the place where the ankle monitor would go off. She comments, "How retro."

Just then, Alyssa and Adrian ride up into the drive-way in the latter's black Chevrolet Camaro. They are back earlier than expected, the young teens thought.

"I better run. Later, Eddy." Nazz walks away, looking back at Eddy with a slight smile of affection.

Alyssa walks up to Eddy with yet another stern facial expression, "I said no girls."

"She just came to hand me somethin'. She didn't come in, Mom! Gosh!" Eddy then smirks, "Besides, she's a _woman_!"

Alyssa waves bye to Adrian before entering the house. Just before he follows though, as Adrian pulls out of the driveway, Eddy notices that the front fender of Adrian's car is partially burnt-orange rather than black. He hasn't noticed before because he doesn't pay that much attention to Adrian overall. He simply shrugs it off as a bad paint job and enters the house as Adrian enters the garage of his own from across the street (to Eddy's house).

The night has already fallen and Eddy and Alyssa are sitting on the couch in front of the living room television with the former flipping channels with the remote and the latter already being asleep. Eddy stops flipping channels when a special news report shows up.

"_THE SEARCH FOR MISSING VETERAN PEACH CREEK OFFICER ALBERT OSCAR, WHO WENT MISSING WHILE STEPPING OUTSIDE OF A BAR FOR A SECOND, HAS BEEN CALLED OFF DUE TO THE SEVENTY-TWO HOUR INVESTIGATION PERIOD EXPIRING AND ALSO DUE TO A CLOSER OBSERVATION AT THE SITUATION." _The male reporter explains. _"JUST TWO WEEKS PRIOR, ANOTHER VETEREN PC COP NAMED CAMERON NICHOLS WAS FOUND DEAD IN THE JUNKYARD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF PEACH CREEK ESTATES BY JONATHAN KENTON AND HIS TRAUMATIZED FRIEND PLANK. AND LASTLY, A YEAR AGO LAST WEEK, VETERAN COP TURNED CAR SALESMAN SKIPPER MCCONE WAS KILLED IN A CAR WRECK THAT HIS YOUNGEST SON AND THE LONE SURVIVOR OF THE ORDEAL, EDGAR "EDDY" MCCONE, CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN MURDER. THOUGH THE AUTHORITIES ADMIT TO BEING SKEPTICAL ABOUT THIS AT FIRST, THESE RECENT EVENTS IN ADDITION TO YOUNG MCCONE'S TESTIMONY ABOUT SEEING A BLACK MINIVAN STRIKE HIS FATHER'S DODGE CHARGER HAVE CAUSED THEM TO RETHINK AND SHARE WITH US INFORMATION THEY WITHHELD."_

"Say what?!" Eddy sits up in outrage, finding it absolutely unbelievable that they could do something as inconsiderate as deny the notion of having important information concerning his father's death and keep it from the rest of his family.

The male reporter continues,_ "—BUT AS IT TURNS OUT, A BLACK MINIVAN WAS FOUND ABANDONED IN FRONT OF THE PEACH CREEK COMMUNITY POOL AND A BURNT-ORANGE CAMARO BELONGING TO AN ESCORT OF ONE OF THE NIGHTLY MAINTENANCE WORKERS WAS STOLEN. FORTUNATELY, THE OWNER OF THE CAR WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE PERSON AS CHRISTOPHER TEAGUE, A DISGRACED AND CORRUPT POLICE OFFICER CONVICTED OF KILLING BOTH A WITNESS AND A FELLOW COP SEVENTEEN YEARS PRIOR TO THE EVENTS OF THE CAR THEFT. AUTHORITIES HAVE ATTEMPTED TO PURSUE HIM ONCE THEY LEARNED OF WHO HE WAS, BUT HE DISAPPEARED AFTER A FIREFIGHT INVOLVING HIS ACCOMPLICES TOOK PLACE ON THE ACCESS STREETS BETWEEN PEACH CREEK AND LEMON BROOKE. AS OF TODAY, THERE HAS YET TO BE A SINGLE SIGHTING FROM TEAGUE-" _

Eddy clicks off the TV and realizes that while Adrian's Camaro is mostly black, the fender is actually burnt-orange, which means if Adrian did paint his car himself, he didn't use lasting black paint. But could this mean, "Nah! They don't even look alike!"

Eddy shakes his head in disbelief, but that doesn't mean he could shake the wild notion he has in his head just as easily. Moments later, Eddy is seen in his attic digging through some old stuff to find out more about his father's past as a police officer, hoping that the fact that he was a pack-rat like Alyssa will allow his search to bear fruit. He eventually stumbles upon an old group-buddy photo of his father in his early twenties with six other cops, two of whom appeared on the news as older men. He takes the picture out of the frame and looks at the back, which has the following names in this order:

**Callie Armstrong **

**Duncan Banks**

**Bruce Church**

**Linus Hampton**

**Skipper McCone**

**Cameron Nichols, Jr.**

**Albert Oscar**

"_They're all here, but Dad was first!" _Eddy whispers hoarsely. _"What did my Dad do to this guy for 'im to get wasted first?"_

Minutes later, Eddy is calling the Peach Creek Sheriff's Office to tell them what he thinks he knows. This is his third time doing so, as the first two hung up on him without explanation.

"Look, I'm telling you, it's not a coincidence! The three people that got wasted, including my Dad, are all on this old picture I found! I'm tellin' ya, it's this Teague creep! He's back! And for whatever reason, he's killin' 'em to get back at 'em! You gotta find the others and keep 'em from gettin' killed, too!" Eddy tries to explain, raising his voice to signify that he has already lost what little patience he had to begin with.

"_Look Mr. McCone, I know you're upset because of what you heard on the news, but you can't just call up here and throw orders at us! More importantly, the information you're giving me isn't sourced!" _A female cop tells him.

"My pal Ed isn't as retarded as you numbskulls!" Eddy spits into the phone. "'Cause you didn't tell my mom and me about this Teague jerk that killed my Dad, yer hands are as nasty as his! Now you get off your ass and you—hey! Hey! HEY!"

Frustrated with the cop for hanging up on him, Eddy throws his phone to the side. What can he do? He wants justice for his deceased father, but can't even get people to listen to him. He can't prove anything. He can't convince anyone. And he certainly can't go anywhere without triggering an alarm. He walks into his living room and looks out the window at Adrian's house, not noticing that his mother is no longer on the couch. Through some binoculars Ed loaned him, he sees Adrian shave a portion of his hair behind his left ear. Right then, though for only a brief couple of seconds, Eddy notices a long pink scar behind that very ear, almost like he's been cut. Eddy has seen that kind of scar before on TV. A scar that happens to be around the _exact_ place he is looking at. Behind the ear. Unbeknownst to Eddy, a shadow is overpowering his and seems to be reaching for his back. It drew closer. Closer. And even closer until…

"AGH!" Eddy and Alyssa shout startled once the latter touches the former's shoulders.

"14 ain't even close to the required age to get heart attacks, Mom!" Eddy chuckles.

"I'm sorry! I thought you heard me!" Alyssa apologizes with a smile.

"No! You're like a ninja! _I'm_ sayin' that and I'm the one takin' how-to-be-like-Jet-Li lessons from Rob!" Eddy continues to chuckle.

Alyssa giggles, "I just came to say good night and I love you."

"Love you, too." Eddy and Alyssa cheek kiss.

Alyssa goes into her room and Eddy looks back out the window to see Adrian no longer there. Maybe he's looking for answers in the wrong place. Maybe he's not. One thing is for sure, neither he nor his mother know that much about Adrian other than what _he_ has told them. And he certainly didn't tell them about his scar. And he definitely avoided a conversation about his fender for as long as the burnt-orange coloring has been there. But really? Does his mother's new boyfriend have any involvement whatsoever to the incidents that are connected to his father's murder? Tomorrow will be the day he begins his quest to find out.

* * *

**Okay! Maybe this chapter wasn't as **_**chilling**_** as I promised, but at least it dripped into the mystery genre finally! The thriller and suspense is on its way everybody, just be patient! But if you have an idea on how it's gonna go, please DON'T say it on the review! You might inadvertantly spoil the surprises and twists I have prepared! Also, Rolf's surname "Yectorven" doesn't exist. I just combined the surnames of people from countries that I think are similar to Rolf's heritage and so that there is no future confusion, the pronunciation is "Yek-tore-vin". And Nazz's full first name "Anastasia" is something I added because I don't really believe "Nazz" is her actual name (because I've never heard of such a name). And look at the way both names are said: "A**_**nas**_**tasia". "****Nazz****". Thanks for the reads and I hope you (publicly) review! I'll try a little harder to update sooner, hopefully by next weekend. But until I do, see you when I see you! **


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